looking toptastic! and I am so glad that some of your first purchases are hellebores.You will get seedlings and in three or so years, they will flower. Sounds a long wait but worth it. I have the most gorgeous shiny purple hellebore, grown from a seedling, giving it's all in my garden at the moment! You really are off to a cracking start.

Looking good there Tracey. Bet you're chuffed ....always nice to get new planting done. Getting a black hellebore soon myself.........know I want it but now need to consider ow best to set it off. White snowdrops inthe foreground seem obvious yet appropriate but between a yellow hellebore and a double white is my chosen site ....I think

Tracey that looks lovely - well done. Didn't realise how high off the ground your border was when I was worrying about the privet. Is that a cordyline? I wrapped mine up to overwinter (not having a greenhouse ) but maybe it would be safe to unwrap it now?

I think it is Busy Bee yes as I googled it the other day, it was one of the plants I had no ID for. I read then that it should be overwintered in the greenhouse, but mine has been out for almost 4 years and has never been wrapped up or anything, it must be healthy as I moved it from my other border and the roots were very deep Busy Bee2

05 Mar 2014 19:32

Ours is in a pot, but on south facing drive, with shelter on three sides, so should definitely be okay then.

Thanks gingly gangly. I was actually going to ask about the hellebore seeds, do I just leave them to self seed or collect the seeds and sow them?

Sorry Tracey - haven't been on for a while! I do a mixture of both. I leave some seeds on the plant to drop and germinate the next February (you'll find the seedlings near the parent plant) and I gather some and sow them in pots, cover in grit and leave outside. They still won't germinate till next Feb, but you might find them easier to manage in pots. Either way, you can pot the seedlings on and eventually you'll have lots of hellebores! Does take patience though - they flower about two years after germinating, so three years in all!